


To Breathe Again

by tirsynni



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Blood and Injury, Fix-It, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:27:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21975859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tirsynni/pseuds/tirsynni
Summary: King Dorephan leaned forward, and at last Link looked away from the hope shining in his eyes. “You don’t know? Then perhaps… Is there a chance?”Link clenched his fists so tightly his hands cramped. Perhaps he was being an idiot or perhaps the Shrine had truly broken something in him. Perhaps he was just giving himself and King Dorephan false hope.But if there was a chance…
Relationships: Link/Revali (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 29
Kudos: 446





	1. Prologue

The first time Revali met the Hylian Champion, he thought the Goddess must have carved Her Champion from stone. He wasn’t cold: he was  _ distant _ , untouchable. He didn’t react at all when Revali proudly displayed his Gale. From that point on, Revali couldn’t resist poking at him, trying to see if there was anything behind that blank exterior. If nothing else to make him realize that Revali and his Great Eagle Bow were so much better than Link and his damned  _ sword _ .

The last time Revali saw Link was the first time he truly saw that exterior break. He had seen flashes before, enough to keep him trying, but when the Calamity awoke, Revali saw  _ fear _ . In that moment, Link’s mask broke, mouth tight and eyes too bright and anxiety so strong Revali swore it rippled with the air currents. Then it was gone, face utterly expressionless again, like the Master Sword sealed away more than darkness: it sealed its wielder, too.

How annoying that the first time Link proved Revali’s amazing assessment correct, that there was someone hiding behind that stony exterior, someone, perhaps, like Revali, was right before Revali died.

Such was the indignity of Revali’s life.

What happened after that… Revali wasn’t quite sure. Being a spirit made acquiring information difficult, even for someone as magnificent as Revali. For one hundred years, he knew they hadn’t completely lost, but they hadn’t won, either. How could they, without the Rito Champion assisting? He saw the castle in the distance, Calamity swirling around it like a demonic stormcloud but not moving farther. He saw his village below, battered but surviving.

He couldn’t see the Elder. He couldn’t see Princess Zelda.

He couldn’t see Link.

Without Revali’s permission, time passed. The days blurred together, then the years. There was little to do in Medoh. He couldn’t free her. He couldn’t help her. Revali, Champion of the Rito, Master of the Skies, helpless to do little more than drift where once he soared. Drift and think, but after a while thinking grew depressing.

There was little doubt the other Champions were dead. What Revali questioned was if they were in the same situation as he: did they fall in their Beasts as well? Were they trapped? Did any of them succeed in their duties?

There was also little doubt in Revali’s heart that Link was dead. That hurt more than Revali expected. He had only seen flashes of Link behind his mask before the end, but those flashes were  _ interesting _ : not even among the Rito had Revali seen someone else so interested in mastering their archery. Probably just Hero nonsense, but it had been. Well. Nice.

And now Link was dead. Revali had far too much time to reflect on that.

Strangely enough, Revali wasn’t as certain if the princess was dead.  _ Something _ had to be holding the Calamity back. He had a feeling…

Nothing he could verify. Trapped, little more than a bird in a cage, Revali drifted, waiting for  _ something. _

Then, after a hundred years, that something came.

_ Revali? Can you hear me? Revali? _


	2. Chapter 2

After waiting years, Revali thought waiting a little longer would be easy. By the wind and sky, Revali was wrong.

Princess Zelda’s message was brief and frustratingly cryptic. She sounded weary, which Revali could admit that perhaps she had the right to be tired: holding back the Calamity for a century and all. Yet Revali wished she could have provided a little more information beyond the Calamity remaining trapped, Link being alive, and with Link’s awakening, the final battle being set into motion.

Final battle sounded good. After a century, Revali was more than ready to enact his vengeance. He would not have minded some more details about what this “final battle” entailed or, for that matter, what Link’s “awakening” meant. Where had he been for the last century? Napping?

After her message, Princess Zelda fell silent, and it was just Revali and Medoh… and the monster. Even as quiet as Windblight was, Revali could never forget his killer.

As Medoh glided, restless and listless in turn, over the village, Revali pretended to glide with her and watched for Link’s grand “awakening.” He checked on his village, so different yet still so similar to when he roosted there. His vision sharp, undulled by death, allowed him to see the Guardians’ haunting lights as they roamed the land and, annoyingly enough, the sky in certain locations. He could see well enough where the other Divine Beasts and their Champions would be but they were too far away to make out any details.

Another question but one he knew Princess Zelda couldn’t answer: did any of them hear his SOS before they fell? He hoped not. After all, it wasn’t like their SOS’s made any difference to anyone.

All the while, there was no sign of where Link  _ was _ . No matter how hard Revali looked, he couldn’t find a single sign where Link was hiding. Sleeping?  _ Not doing his duty _ . Napping while Revali was trapped here, unavenged, flying with no hint of wind going through his feathers. There was no unusual activity, no sign of that damned sword, not a hint of Link’s blond hair. Despite Princess Zelda’s words, for several days it was like nothing had changed.

Then, in the far distance, something arose on the plateau close to the desert. 

It took no time for Revali to figure out what it was because, as if triggered by the first, more towers arose throughout Hyrule. They ripped out of the ground, rising until they stabbed the sky. Then lights flared to life, the shrines which had so interested Princess Zelda sparking and glowing. Revali watched the lights spread with wide eyes. A hundred, perhaps more, scattered through the four corners of Hyrule. 

“Well,” he breathed, “I suppose that is a sign that Link is awake.” There was a bit more flare than Revali expected from  _ Link _ of all people, but at least the message was clear. Too bad Revali didn’t have a clue what it all --

Vah Medoh trembled. She opened her beak and  _ screamed _ , the sound tearing through the air above the village. Revali flinched and flapped his wings, reaching for a bow he dropped decades prior.

The Malice dirtying his beloved Medoh began to pulse anew. Within Medoh’s final terminal, Windblight stirred. Revali couldn’t feel the cold breeze coming from Hebra Mountain, but he could feel Windblight’s icy hatred, its  _ hunger _ .

It would seem like Link’s awakening awoke more than the towers and shrines.

“Fuck,” Revali whispered, watching Malice burn in Medoh’s eyes. Horror flooded his bones. He looked down to see his people stirring, their attention captured by Medoh’s scream. “No,  _ no _ . Go away,  _ stay away. _ ”

But for the last hundred years, no one had heard him. No one heard him now. 

Medoh’s shields flew up, blazing red. Then Medoh’s cannons charged.

“ _ No! _ ” Revali shrieked.

Medoh cried out and began to fire.

xoxoxox

If the first days after Princess Zelda’s message were slow, the following days crawled. At times Revali found himself checking the sun to make sure time was passing at all.

His people were intelligent. It took them little time to realize that Medoh only fired at them if they flew a certain height. Revali was proud of them, even as he grieved at their clipped wings. Rito, unable to fly. Truly the last days were upon them  _ if Link didn’t hurry up. _

When Revali wasn’t watching the sun or his people, he kept his gaze focused on the east. Link would travel to Mipha first. After that, well. Who knew what Link would do without the royal collar around his skinny neck? All he knew was if Link decided to help Vah Medoh last, spirit or not, Revali would make him regret it.

With the Calamity guiding Medoh’s wings and cannons, the Rito seemed hesitant to take to the skies at all. It took several days of watching his proud people walk around the village and the nearby area for Revali to realize he couldn’t remember when last he saw his people truly soar. In his time, they excelled at maintaining communication through the various villages and cities. He wasn’t sure, much of the last century a blur, but he thought that stopped prior to the Malice’s reawakening.

Revali shrieked his rage along with Medoh. Only one of their cries echoed.

Too many sunsets passed without any sign from Link when it happened. Revali knew it was inevitable -- his people too proud and strong for it to be otherwise -- but he still screeched when two Rito soared through the air toward Vah Medoh. In response, Vah Medoh’s shields blazed an angry red.

Perhaps the worst part was the Malice. For all of its cunning, it held all of the deadly, savage  _ stupidity _ of a rabid coyote. It watched with furious, dumb eyes as the two Rito approached.

“Go away,” Revali breathed. Within Medoh’s walls, he heard his final SOS thrum where his heartbeat used to be. “You can’t win.  _ Go away. _ ”

But they didn’t, because they were Rito. To their credit, they didn’t seem to fly directly for Medoh. The sunlight shone off their feathers as they circled the Divine Beast. Reconnaissance, perhaps.

It was the closest Revali had been to another Rito in one hundred years. Something cracked in his ghostly chest when he realized he didn’t recognize their plumage at all.

The Malice, in all its dumb hate, didn’t care. Medoh screamed and her cannons fired. Revali didn’t let himself look away.

They dodged, cutting through the air with such grace that Revali ached with pride. They flew around Medoh, shouting to each other, the wind carrying their voices away from Revali so he was only left with scraps. Despite Medoh firing at them, they didn’t fly away, ever circling, looking for  _ something _ .

Then the dark one didn’t dodge fast enough.

Revali flinched, the memory of  _ pain _ clear even after all this time, and moaned softly as the dark Rito fell. He couldn’t look away as the white Rito swooped, lightning-fast, and caught his companion in mid-air. Even as Medoh’s cannons whirred again, the white Rito darted away, back to the village, carrying the dark Rito with him.

There was no sign if the dark Rito was dead or alive. Revali watched them vanish into the village, surprised by the sudden wave of bitterness. One would think that would be a perk of being dead: knowing if someone else was alive or dead. Instead there was only more oblivion. Yet another disappointment.

Medoh screamed again. Her cannons powered down. Her shield flickered off. There was nothing left to defend again. It was just Revali, Medoh, and the Malice, gliding through the sky.

Biting back his own scream, Revali turned toward the east again, toward Vah Ruta and Mipha. “Hurry  _ up _ , you slow Hylian.”

The sun set and rose again. No lights shone from Vah Ruta. Again, sunset and sunrise.

So focused on the east, the Malice shrieking its rage through Vah Medoh took Revali by surprise. Flailing his wings on Vah Medoh’s deck, Revali looked down to see what inspired such fury.

They circled the village once again. Revali expected to see more Rito, armed and ready to try again against the Calamity.

He didn’t expect to see Link, so very small on the bridge below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For more fic info and Legend of Zelda, check out my tumblr [tumblr](https://tirsynni.tumblr.com/)!


	3. Chapter 3

Once again, Link failed to meet Revali’s lowest expectations.

Admittedly, Revali wasn’t expecting Link yet. He thought Link would run first to Mipha since he couldn’t reach Princess Zelda. Still, since Link was now here, he expected that he would settle his feathers and perform his duty.

Instead, Link spent an inordinate amount of time in the village. Not that Revali was bitter, no, but with Medoh flying in circles above the region, Revali had no way of seeing what Link was doing in there or why it took so long to do it. Then, instead of trying to figure out how to get his wingless self up to Medoh, the supposed Champion headed into the mountains. There, Link spent even  _ more _ time doing… something.

Had his 100 year disappearance rattled his already unsteady brain? Perhaps he was truly lost without Zelda holding his leash.

Medoh and Link both kept moving, and Revali struggled to keep an eye on Link and his people. Since the last two Rito, none other attempted to fly to Medoh. He watched them below, few daring to fly at all. He shrieked and Medoh echoed his fury, her cry shaking the sky.

Now, with freedom and vengeance so close, there was no dreamy oblivion waiting for Revali. He circled Medoh and paced her deck and stared out from inside her, watching and waiting. He noted all the differences between his village  _ now _ and his village  _ then _ . He ignored how the beast’s heartbeat seemingly replaced Medoh’s gentle thrum, its malevolence throbbing even while Windblight kept itself tucked away. He stared at the castle and willed Zelda to reach out once more, provide him more information, say  _ anything _ , but there was only the wind he couldn’t feel and Medoh’s occasional wail.

If he spent time thinking about Link, what else was he supposed to do? When the idiot somehow reached Medoh, he would have to prepare him. Link had never been inside Medoh. He would have no idea what to expect.

Had he encountered any of the Calamity’s monsters? Was he prepared?

Where had Link  _ been? _

If Revali wasn’t dead, he was sure he would have molted all of his feathers waiting for Link.

Occasionally, he thought he caught flashes of Link, but even a Rito’s sharp eyes could be fooled by the sunlight sparkling off white snow. He knew what he  _ did _ see, though:

The Shrines, blazing to life.

“What are you doing, Link?” Revali grumbled, watching a Shrine suddenly come alive. 

xoxoxxo

What was he  _ doing _ ?

Link knew he needed to find Teba. On his own, he stood no chance of reaching Vah Medoh. Instead, he found himself traversing the mountain, fighting monsters and seeking Shrines. This wasn’t what the dead king told him to do. This wasn’t what Impa told him to do. This wasn’t what  _ Princess Zelda _ told him to do.

Yet his feet guided him to Shrine after Shrine, the Sheikah Tablet telling him when he was close. The memory of the Goddess Statue in the Temple of Time remained brilliant in his mind, like he had stared too long into the sun and it remained burned on his eyelids. He remembered how the statue shone as he approached it. He remembered the faintest whisper in his mind, so faint that he had to assure himself he didn’t dream:

_ Grow stronger. _

Madness. All of this was madness.

Snow whipped around him, the cold snaking through his thick Rito clothes. The rubies did little to ease his chilled breaths and his dry throat. His Rito boots dragged and caught, each step an effort. Link was cold and exhausted and still he fought ice Lizalfos and various monsters and trudged forward in search of shrines.

He had dodged one Lynel already. Link wasn’t strong enough to fight it…

And wasn’t that the problem? Despite several people calling him  _ Champion _ and  _ Chosen _ , Link was still weak. Still a coward.

Above him, Vah Medoh shrieked, and the mountains shivered and snow trickled, threatening an avalanche. Link flinched and cursed himself in the same breath. The trees trembled around him. 

_ Revali _ . Link looked up, aware of a moose several hundred feet away doing the same. Above them, Vah Medoh glided across the blue sky. So few memories, but he recalled Revali flying toward the Divine Beast, all but laughing at Link as he flew.

Did he hate Link like Princess Zelda did? Or, at least, used to. His memories were so scrambled and little in the present connected with them, including Zelda’s gentle voice when she awoke him.

A sharp breeze rustling the trees and his hair startled him from his thoughts. Link breathed in the too-cold air, tasting the icy pine of the surrounding trees on his tongue, and looked around. Just snow and trees and a lone moose. No telltale glow of a sleeping Shrine.

Above him, Medoh shrieked again, propelling Link forward. If he didn’t find another Shrine soon, he would seek out Teba. He had a feeling he would need to return to this mountain again.

Despite his memory of Revali, Link found himself curious about the Champion and what awaited him inside Vah Medoh. 

Even as he thought it, Link saw the shine of a Shrine in the distance, barely visible through the trees and snow. Cursing his boots, Link trudged forward. As soon as he could, he planned on finding boots which actually worked in the snow.

At least these boots kept his feet warm.

xoxoxox

It was a far more battered Link which reached the Flight Range hours later. The sun was setting, and there was no brilliant sunset like over the Plateau. The mountain quickly grew dark, the air gaining a fierce bite. He needed his torch to light the way, but at least there were signs to follow. The longer Link traveled, the more his appreciation of signs grew.

And less his appreciation for Shrines. His bones ached, although he wasn’t sure if that was entirely due to the Shrine or the cold biting through his clothes. He grit his teeth to stop his teeth from chattering. His temples ached. His fingers struggled to wrap around the ladder as Link climbed upward. 

Teba sat on the other side of the roost, back to Link as he worked on his bow. The Rito was as fierce a white as the snow which chilled Link, his feathers jagged edges, his movements smooth and precise: nothing like the softer Saki in either color or manner.

Revali. For some odd reason, Link watched Teba, noting his concentration on his bow, thinking of the tales the Elder and Saki both told him, and thought,  _ Revali _ .

Rest. Before he tried to take on Vah Medoh, Link certainly needed rest.

Beyond Teba, wind gusted upward, but Teba remained unbothered. At least, until Link approached. His head snapped toward Link, eyes sharp. “Yeah?” Teba greeted him. His voice was softer than Link expected. Even when Teba turned back to his bow, words growing gruffer, Link felt comfortable enough to approach. “I don’t know you. And I’m actually pretty busy here. You should probably go.”

Teba frowned at the bow in his hands, testing it. Seeing if it would stand up to Vah Medoh.

Vah Medoh almost killed both him and his friend, yet Teba was ready to fight again, alone if need be. His courage gave Link’s numb feet the strength to walk forward. Before he could will himself to speak, Teba looked over his shoulder again at Link. 

“...did you need something? I’m busy here.”

Since awakening in the Shrine of Resurrection, Link’s life had been a messy quest of stumbling over clues from his past and the struggles of his future. Among the oddities was the strange fear which spiked in his heart when he opened his mouth to speak. The same thrill which laced up his spine, whispering  _ danger, danger _ shivered through him whenever he spoke, as if the simple movements of lips and tongue could unleash something dangerous. Link felt it now as he spoke, Teba’s courage feeding his. “I can help you.”

Instantly, Teba’s features relaxed into a disbelieving look. “Help me? With what exactly?”

The cold of Hebra Mountains clung to Link’s throat. “Vah Medoh…”

Teba’s expression didn’t change. Link kept his spine straight. “Let me get this straight. Some random Hylian wants to help me bring down Divine Beast Vah Medoh? I’m not buying it.”

...of all the responses, Link hadn’t quite expected that one. He cocked his head, meeting Teba’s golden gaze. Teba stared unflinching back, the most serious Rito he had met yet.

Link expected something cocky in his eyes, in the tilt of his head. Perhaps it was the sheer recklessness the others described.

Despite Teba’s obvious distrust, his tone remained calm as he continued, “What’s your name, stranger?”

“I’m Link.” After all these weeks of travel, it finally felt like his name, too.

“Link, huh?” Teba closed his eyes, looking thoughtful. “Well, Link, I’m Teba. But you already knew that.”

All considering, Link really should have expected Teba’s decision to not only challenge Vah Medoh, but his determination to knock Vah Medoh from the sky.

He also should have expected the test.

Really, it seemed like everything since awakening from the Shrine of Resurrection was one big test.

Teba’s test was simpler than expected, easy after weeks of battling and killing keese with whatever bows and arrows he could find. 

Easy or not, Teba’s reaction when Link returned bolstered his confidence. He kept his expression even when Teba mused, “Link… I feel I’ve heard that name somewhere before…”

_ Alongside Revali and the other Champions _ , Link didn’t say. He never said it. Despite Impa’s reaction to him, sometimes it felt like he had died alongside the other Champions.

Considering he awoke in the Shrine of  _ Resurrection _ , perhaps he had.

Teba clicked his beak once and looked Link over. “It’s late now. I have food here for dinner. We’ll eat and rest and take off at dawn. I have a bow you can use. Your bow served you well in practice, but a good Rito bow will serve you far better in battle.”

Even as Link nodded, never one to turn down a weapon, Teba waved a hand toward the fire. “Go, sit. I’ll take care of dinner. No matter how good the clothes, it can’t substitute for having real feathers. You look like you traveled all over the mountains.”

Sometimes, Link’s decision to be quiet was a good one. He only nodded at Teba and hurried to the fire. Perhaps he should have offered to help with dinner, but his toes and fingers were going numb and his nose and ears hurt.

They ate in silence, the fire warm and soothing between them. There was only the wind gusting outside the roost and the crackle of the flames. The thick, musky scent of burning wood teased at Link’s memory, and he could almost hear their voices, see their faces.

But there was nothing but him and Teba, and that was strangely all right. Teba never asked any of the questions Link waited for him to ask. He sat with Link, and Link relaxed, staring into the flickering flames. 

With Teba’s quiet strength surrounding him and the memory of Revali laughing and flying toward Vah Medoh in repeat in Link’s mind, he thought they could actually do this. That they could save Vah Medoh.

Link drifted to sleep with those thoughts circling in his hand, one question soft and lingering:

_ What about saving Revali? _

xoxoxox

Another light flared in the distance. Link doing…  _ whatever _ he was doing with those damned Shrines. When night fell, Revali completely lost sight of Link. He huffed and stood on Medoh’s deck, watching the  _ other _ lights.

From here, he could see the lights of the nearby stable come alive, burning as the land around them grew dark. Those fucking Guardians flew beyond, their red lights terrible and mocking, silent without prey. Lights flickered alive in the village, although Revali knew they would go out soon. The Rito always preferred the light of day to starlight.

And, of course, Medoh’s lights, bloody red thanks to the Calamity’s Malice.

His wing glowed green as he patted Medoh. He couldn’t feel it but hoped she could. “It’ll be over soon, Medoh,” Revali said, willing it to be so. Wasn’t a century long enough?

Apparently, the Goddesses agreed. As the sun arose, its rays lighting up the snow of the mountains and painting Medoh’s deck golden, a familiar white figure soared toward Vah Medoh.

On the Rito’s back, Link rode.

Revali shrieked his triumph. The Calamity roared its fury. With a smell akin to burning feathers, the shields rose fiery and fierce around the Divine Beast.

The battle for Vah Medoh had begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For more Revalink and Legend of Zelda, check out my [tumblr](https://tirsynni.tumblr.com/). Stay safe, everyone!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only when I started posting the next chapter did I realize the chapter order was screwed up for some reason. I have no idea how long it has been like that, so apologies. :(

_ Link is coming _ , Princess Zelda said, and this warrior certainly  _ looked _ like Link. The hair and eyes were unmistakable.

Everything else… Something was wrong.

From the shadows, Revali watched Link, calling out advice when necessary. The need for directions wasn’t surprising: Revali had never allowed Link inside his beloved Vah Medoh. While Link had been inside the other three, Vah Medoh was beautiful and unique, special even among the Divine Beasts, so it wasn’t like Link could use the others as a template. No. That part wasn’t odd.

Everything else about Link was. Revali knew little about Link’s history, but he knew he came from a long line of Knights. He was a Knight before he became Zelda’s personal Knight. It showed in his fighting: all precise movement and careful footwork. It showed in his stiff bearing and the set of his skinny shoulders.

Well, it had  _ then _ . Whatever had kept Link away from the battlefield for the last century transformed those strict movements into something fluid and… Revali couldn’t quite place it. Wild, perhaps? Almost feral. There was a quick, animalistic ferocity to his movements. Still strong, still efficient, but definitely not the warrior Revali remembered.

What had kept Link away for a century?

There was also a fluidity to his expressions Revali didn’t remember ever seeing. It was, admittedly, fascinating. There was also, admittedly, not much to do right now but watch Link. He couldn’t fly down to help him. He couldn’t join him in the fight against the Blight which stained Medoh. He couldn’t do anything to save his own Divine Beast.

All he could do was watch and wonder and  _ hope _ . Despite Link traveling through Medoh, freeing her and killing the Blight, there was no sign of Windblight. Revali knew little about his murderer. Surely Windblight was connected to the Blight contaminating Medoh. Perhaps cleaning out the contamination was enough.

After all, if  _ Revali _ couldn’t handle Windblight...

Revali huffed silently and directed Link to the next Terminal. He pretended not to notice when he gestured toward the closest Terminal to Link and his wing went through Vah Medoh.

xoxoxox

When Teba, panting and bleeding, told Link that he needed to leave him to fight Vah Medoh alone, Link hadn’t been surprised.

He awoke to Zelda’s voice, Zelda’s guidance, but still alone.

The dead King gave him the sailcloth and then directed him to fight the Calamity alone.

He traveled to Kakariko and was surrounded by warriors, and yet Impa directed him to free the Divine Beasts alone.

So Revali’s wry tones warmed Link as Link traveled through Vah Medoh. Perhaps Revali wasn’t fighting  _ with _ Link, but he was with Link as Link fought. That warmed Link far better than any campfire or bowl of hastily made soup.

The red, poisonous glare of the Malice chilled him, a flare of pain and loss and  _ fear _ in the back of Link’s mind, but Revali’s voice was regularly there, snarking and guiding and occasionally insulting. Link clung to that. There was something in that red glare which sent spikes of terror through his heart, but Link couldn’t remember  _ why _ . When Revali called to him, Link didn’t know if it was  _ Revali’s _ voice or a  _ person’s _ voice, but it helped soothe that terror. A little.

Had they been friends a hundred years ago? He only had one clear memory of Revali, and it pointed otherwise. Did it really matter? 

_ Keep talking to me _ , Link asked silently, using the Sheikah Slate to free the third Terminal. 

_ “There are  _ two  _ terminals remaining. You’re almost there.” _

Warmth flooded Link at the soft delight in Revali’s voice. He tried not to think about that voice vanishing like the King had.

xoxoxox

Teba barely made it back to the village. Pain lanced up his leg and through his side, and his wings, already worn from battle and carrying Link, throbbed.

_ A little farther, a little farther _ …

His body and heart ached. All that and he failed. He helped Link  _ get _ to Vah Medoh and then left a Hylian to fight a Rito’s battle.

Goddesses  _ damn _ it.

“Teba!”

Teba huffed an annoyed breath when a familiar Rito darted toward him. “You shouldn’t be flying,” he wheezed, glaring as Harth glided along his injured side.

“Oh, you don’t get to say a word right now,” Harth retorted, feathers bristling. Still, his movements were gentle as he supported Teba, keeping them both in the air and angled to land on Revali’s Landing.

Hopefully, Master Revali could watch out for the little Hylian. He would need all the help he could get.

If Link survived… If Link succeeded where Teba failed…

He thought of Link, soaring in the air without wings, and his feathers rustled. Like hell he wasn’t going to drag that insane little Hylian home. No Rito ever turned away a brother-in-arms.

“Saki is going to kill you,” Harth said grimly.

Distracted by thoughts of Link, Teba gave a fluttery shrug of his wing and pretended he couldn’t feel the pain streak up his side.

Which was the cue for his wing to give out, sending him and Harth tumbling to Revali’s Landing in a mess of feathers.

xoxoxox

Against all of Revali’s wishes and hopes, when Link touched the final Terminal with the Sheikah Slate, Windblight awoke with a roar. As the battle raged, all he could do was shout encouragement and shout at himself that he wasn’t terrified, he  _ wasn’t _ , the Goddesses had given this skinny Hylian that  _ special _ sword for a reason…

When Link fell down and Revali shrieked at him, Revali noticed for the first time that it wasn’t the Master Sword in Link’s hands.

“ _ Don’t go out like this. _ ”

Link soared through the air using a sallcloth, and when he fired at Windblight from the sky, Revali  _ remembered _ . So many of Link’s techniques and movements had changed, but when he fired his bow from the air, it was  _ Revali’s _ technique he used. Revali remembered…

Well, if nothing else, that was certainly Link fighting, if made somehow impossibly stranger over the last century. He had taught no one else that technique. If he had --

“ _ Keep your head in the game! _ ”

Revali flapped his wings and furiously ignored how they went through Vah Medoh. He shouted to Link again and again, sometimes in dismay, sometimes in annoyance when that  _ stupid _ Hylian did something  _ stupid _ , and if he pretended hard enough it seemed like he was doing something, anything but being useless on the sidelines while Link fought  _ his _ battle.

Even if he could only shout, it  _ seemed _ to help. Link responded to his voice each time. Revali swore he even saw a smile when he yelled “ _ Nice! _ ” when Link reflected one of Windblight’s blows.

Revali wasn’t useless. He might be dead, but the Rito Champion was never  _ useless _ .

Time felt frozen when Windblight tumbled to Vah Medoh’s deck. Link charged, that odd sword in his hands. Memories flooded Revali as he watched Windblight struggle weakly and --

And he remembered the sensation when he first mastered his Gale. He remembered the freedom of the skies, the exhilaration flooding his body. He remembered being  _ strong _ .

And he silently laughed when Windblight died under Link’s sword.

Feeling impossibly alive, Windblight’s chains shattering from Vah Medoh and Revali alike, Revali soared down to visit Link. 

When Link looked at him with wide eyes, looking like he had never seen Revali before, Revali pretended that he wasn’t surprised.

And that it didn’t hurt. At all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, for more Revalink and Zelda, check out my [tumblr](https://tirsynni.tumblr.com/)! :D

**Author's Note:**

> For more fanfic notes and Legend of Zelda, check out my [tumblr](https://tirsynni.tumblr.com/)!


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